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PUESESTFA) BY 




THIS MEMORIAL MARKS THE SITE OF 

FORT WASHINGTON 

CONSTRUCTED BY THE CONTINENTAL TROOPS IN THE SUMMER OF I 776 

TAKEN BY THE Bi^ITISH AFTER A HEROIC DEFENSE, NOVEMBER 16, 1 776 

REPOSSESSED BY THE AMERICANS UPON 

THEIR TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO THE CITY OF NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 25, I 783 

ERECTED THROUGH THE GENEROSITY OF 

JAMES GORDON BENNETT 

BY THE EMPIRE STATE SOCIETY OF THE SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
NOVEMBER 16, I 90 1 

SITE REGISTERED BY THE AMERICAN SCENIC AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY 




PROGRAMME 

NOVEMBER THE SIXTEENTH 
NINETEEN HUNDRED AND ONE 




M 



AT I I O CLOCK A. M. 

EMORIAL CHURCH SERVICE 

In the HoLYRooD Protestant Episcopal Church, at Broadway 
(Kingsbridge Road) and i8ist Street, in memory of those who fell in 
the Battle of Fort Washington, the Rev. C. Morton Murray and 
visiting clergy officiating. 

During the day there will be an exhibition of military relics in the 
Guild Room of the Church. 



AT 1.30 O CLOCK P. M. 



ROCESSION 



Forming at Amsterdam Avenue and 187th Street, moves to Fort 
Washington in the following order: 

Platoon of Police 

Dr. E. V. D. Gazzam, Marshal and Aides 

Eighth United States Artillery Band 

Three Companies United States Coast Artillery 

Wendel's Battery, N. G. N. Y. 

Colors of the Empire State Society, S. A. R. 

Color Guard: Detail from Washington Continental Guard of 
New York 

Field and Staff Officers of First Regiment of Minutemen, of 
Washihgton, D. C. 

Members of the Sons of the American Revolution 

Band of the New York Juvenile Asylum 

Boys of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum 

At Kingsbridge Road the line of march will cover a portion of the route 
taken by the American Army when it repossessed Fort Washington in 1783. 



Sooitjty, 



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AT 2 O CLOCK P. M. 

EDICATION OF MEMORIAL 

Upon arrival of procession at Fort Washington 

Raising of United Sates Flag in Fort 
CHRISTOPHER R. FORBES 

Artillery Salute 
CAPT. LOUIS WENDEL'S BATTERY, N. G. N. Y. 

Music: "Star Spangled Banner" 
EIGHTH UNITED STATES ARTILLERY BAND 

Dedicatory Prayer 
REV. JESSE LYMAN HURLBUT, D.D. 

Chaplain Empire State Society, S. A. R. 



AT 2.15 o'clock p. M. TN THE TENT 

Music: " America" 
EIGHTH UNITED STATES ARTILLERY BAND 

Address 
WALTER SETH LOGAN 

President Empire State Society and President-General, Sons of the American Revolution 

Address 
NAME TO BE ANNOUNCED 

Representing James Gordon Bennett 

Address 
HON. ANDREW H. GREEN 

President American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society 

Music 
NEW YORK JUVENILE ASYLUM BAND 

Address 
MAJ. GEN. JOHN R. BROOKE, U. S. A. 

Commanding Department of the East 

Address 
HON. AZARIAH HALL SAWYER 

Historian Empire State Society, S. A. R. 

Music 
NEW YORK JUVENILE ASYLUM BAND 

Poem 
DR. P. BRYNBERG PORTER 

Address 
HON. HIRAM ROSWELL STEELE 

Member of Board of Management, S. A. R. 

At the close of the literary exercises there will be a reunion of descendants of 
the defenders of Fort Washington. 



The Battle of Fort Washington 



/^N the night of November 4-5, 1770, a few days after the battle of 

White Plains, the British army, which had been camped over against 
the Americans on the Heights of New Castle, made a sudden and mysteri- 
ous retrograde movement toward New York. Washington could not 
fathom it. He did not know what we know to-day, that on November 
2d, Col. Robert Magaw's adjutant, William Demont, had slipped out of 
Fort Washington and betrayed to the enemy the complete plans of the 
Fort — an act of perfidy which, because it was successful, inflicted a greater 
disaster upon the American cause than the later treason of Arnold. 

Although not understanding the designs of Howe, but reasoning 
from other facts, Washington believed that no good could be subserved by 
the retention of Fort Washington, which had failed to prevent the passage 
of the enemy's vessels up the Hudson. On November 8th, therefore, he 
revoked the orders which he had given to Magaw to defend the Fort to 
the last, and advised Greene to witiidraw the garrison and stores to New 
Jersey. He left this course, however, discretionary with Greene, who was 
on the ground; and, by the "officious interference of Congress and a 
venial error of judgment on the part of Greene " (says Fiske) the Fort was 
retained. 

On November 15th, the day before the battle, Howe, having dis- 
posed his forces to his satisfaction, summoned Magaw to surrender, inti- 
mating that in case of refusal the Americans might expect no quarter. 
Whereupon Magaw sent back this superb message: 

"... ACTUATED BY THE MOST GLORIOUS CAUSE 
THAT MANKIND EVER FOUGHT IN, 1 AM DETERMINED TO 
DEFEND THIS POST TO THE LAST EXTREMITY." 

That was a brave soldier's reply, although Greene should have 
saved him the necessity of making it. The courage that dictated it is 
amazing, in view of the physical and moral situation at that time. Here 
were only 3,000 inexperienced Americans attempting to defend all of Man- 
hattan Island north of i4=;th Street,* against 9,000 trained and fully 
equipped foreign troops. The circuit of the field of action was about 10 
miles, an average of one American soldier to about every 18 feet. The 
King of Prussia, in his History of the Seven Years' War, estimated that 
16,000 men were inadequate to defend the city of Berlin, with about the 
same circuit. 



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With these odds against them, there had been nothing in the history 
of the Revolution since Lexington to warrant the belief that the Fort could 
be held. Bunker Hill had recorded an American retreat; the American 
army in Canada was shattered; Long Island had nearly cost Washington 
his army; Harlem Heights was a siicces crcstiiuc; White Plains was a 

drawn game. What then, but the glorious inspiration of a righteous cause, expressed by 1 

The citadel of the American defenses, now marked by the efforts of the Empire State Society 

through the generosity of James Gordon Bennett, Esq., was a pentagonal bastioned earthwork, situai 

For the sake of brevity, many localities are indicated by modern designations which, of course, were not then known 



FORT WASHDMGTOM 



FROM THE 

RANDEL & SEnUELL. 




'i(ed for the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society by Reginald Pelham Bolton, C.E. 

^aw in his message to Howe, can account for tiie superb defense of Fort Washington ? 
the Sons of the American revolution and the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 
on the highest elevation of Manhattan Island (271.4 feet) on the western side of Fort Washington 



Avenue in the line of 183d Street. The Fort mounted 32 pieces of heavy cannon, 
and its out-works eleven more. The chief outer defenses were: A line of breast- 
works across the high ground between i4=;th and 147th Streets; a second line 
between i5";d and is=5th Streets; a third incipient line in the latitude of the Jumel 
Mansion (Washington's Headquarters), at 161 st Street; a strong redoubt on 
Jeffrey's Hook southwest of the Fort; a redoubt and breastworks at Fort Tryon, 
half a mile north of the Fort; a fortified position on Laurel Hill, now called Fort 
George, at the northern terminus of Amsterdam Avenue; a four-gun redoubt 
down below Laurel Hill to the northward; and various other minor defenses. 

Magaw commanded at Fort Washington; Rawlings and Williams were at 
Fort Tryon with the Maryland and Virginia riflemen; Baxter and Swope were at 
Laurel Hill with militia of the flying camp, and Cadwalader was on the south 
with his Pennsylvania Rangers 

About 10 a. m., November 16th, the enemy began the assault. The attack 
was made on all sides — on the north by Knyphausen and Rahl with their Hessians 
and Waldeckers; on the east at Lauel Hill by Matthews and Cornwallis with 
Light Infantry, Guards and Grenadiers, and near i5sth Street by Stirling with his 
Highlanders; on the south by Percy and Howe with Red-coats and Hessians; 
and on the west by the British frigate " Pearl " on the Hudson. 

On the south, Cadwalader, finding himself between the fires of Stirling and 
Percy, made a dogged retreat to the Fort, halting and firing, and strewing his 
path chiefly with Hessians. On the east, under cover of a furious bombardment, 
from University Heights, the British took Laurel Hill, where the brave Baxter 
fell. On the north, Rawlings made the most desperate resistance of the 
day against the giant Hessians, whose bones can be distinguished to-day by their 
extraordinary size Here there was great slaughter and men fell like leaves 
from the autumn trees. Rawlings and Williams were both wounded. There 
were not enough men to man the breastworks and guns. In this crisis, American 
womanhood sprang to the rescue in the person of Margaret Corbin, who worked 
the gun at the trail of which her dead husband lay, until she, too, fell, severely 
but not mortally wounded. 

But the torrent could not be stemmed, and the tumultuous whirlpool of 
battle swept nearer the Fort. With the Americans, however, it was still a tight, 
not a flight; — for Magaw, looking down the slopes, could see the contending 
parties mingled in a desperate hand-to-hand struggle, shooting, thrust- 
ing, striking and stabbing. The air was filled with the thunder of cannon, the 
roar of musketry, the ringing of steel, the sickening crunch of descending rifle 
butts, the shouts and curses of combatants, the shrieks of the wounded and the 
groan's of the dying. One hundred and thirty-two corpses strewed the ground, 
78 of them British; and 392 men, of whom 380 were British, either lay upon the 
hillsides or staggered with gaping wounds. 

Magaw had kept his word; he had fought "to the last extremity," and 
further resistance would have converted Fort Washington into a slaughter pen. 
He therefore yielded to a new summons, from Knyphausen, and surrendered. 
And Washington, who had almost been captured earlier in the day near the Jumel 
Mansion, now standing with streaming eyes on the heights of the Palisades, saw 
the American flag lowered and the British ascend in its place over Fort Wash- 
ington. The whole American command, about 3,000 in number, became 
prisoners of war, and very few of them ever issued from the prisons into which 
they were cast. 

Manhattan Island remained in possession of the British 7 years and 9 days, 
during which American Independence was achieved by the same indomitable 
bravery that was displayed at Fort Washington, guided by the acquired wisdom 
of greater experience. 

At length came another day in 1783, when a gay and triumphant procession 
crossed the King's Bridge and, with inspiring music, came marching down the 
Kingsbridge Road. The uniforms were blue, buff and white; the flags were red- 
and-white striped, with a blue canton containing 13 white stars It halted for 
a few days at McGowan's Pass, in Central Park, while the gradual withdrawal of 
the King's troops was taking place; and then, on the 2sth, proceeded to the city 
where the formalities of evacuation were completed. On that day the last British 
soldier left New York, and once more the American flag floated unchallenged 
from the Island's loftiest height— Mount Washington. 



EMPIRE STATE SOCIETY 
SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 

Headquarters: 1123 Broadway, New York 



President 
Vice- Presidents 



Secretary- Treasurer 
Registrar 
Historian 
Chaplain 



OFFICERS 

Walter Seth Logan 
Stephen Mott Wright 
Edward Payson Cone 
Trueman Gardner Avery 
Edwin Van Deusen Gazzam 
Teunis Dimon Huntting 
Hon. AzARiAH H. Sawyer 
Rev. Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, 



D.D. 



John R. Van Wormer 
Hon. Hiram R. Steele 
William H. Kelly 
Henry Baldwin Young 
Charles L. Nichols 
Herbert P. Bissell 
Dr. Charles N. Palmer 



MANAGERS 

Theodore Fitch 
Sutherland DeWitt 
Charles B. Knox 
Clinton Rogers 
James M. Belden 
Franklin A. Ethridge 
Carroll C. Rawlings 
Charles B. Provost 



William A. Marble 
James de la Montanye 
George D. Bangs 
William H. Wayne 
George Clinton Batcheller 
Dr Vincent M. Munier 
Ma]. William H. Corbusier, 
U. S. A. 



THE AMERICAN 
SCENIC AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY 

Headquarters: Tribune Building, New York 



President 
Vice-Presidents 



Treasurer 
Counsel . 

Landscape Architect 
Secretary 



OFFICERS 

Hon. Andrew H. Green 
Hon. Charles S. Francis 
Frederick W Devoe 
J. PiERPONT Morgan 
Walter S. Logan 
Edward Payson Cone 
Col. Henry W. Sackett 
Samuel Parsons, Jr. 
Edward Hagaman Hall 



Hon. Andrew H. Green 
Hon. Charles S. Francis 
George F. Kunz 
Hon. Henry E. Howland 
Frederick W. Devoe 
Walter S. Logan 
Hon. Thomas V. Welch 
Edward P. Hatch 
Hon. Robert L. Fryer 
Hon. John Hudson Peck 
Hon. Hugh Hastings 



TRUSTEES 

J, PiERPONT Morgan 
Col. Henry W. Sackett 
Thomas R. Proctor 
William H. Russell 
Charles F. Wingate 
Richard T. Davies 
Frederick S. Lamb 
Col. Abraham G. Mills 
Edward Payson Cone 
H. K. Bush-Brown 
Hon. Wm. Van Valkenburgh 



Samuel P. Avery 
Edward T. Potter 
Hon. Georgb W. Perkins 
Frank S. Witherbee 
Hon. Francis G. Landon 
Mrs. M. Fay Peirce 
Le Grand B. Cannon 
Francis Whiting Halsey 
Reginald Pelham Bolton 
Albert Ulmann 



y/c, 



GENERAL COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS 



WALTER S. LOGAN, Chairman 
E. V. D. GklZk^, M.D. Secretary 



James Gordon Bennett 

Hon. Chauncey M. Depew 

Hon. Robert B. Roosevelt 

Hon. Andrew H. Green 

Hon. Hugh Hastings 

Hon, Hiram R. Steele 

Hon. C. A. Pugsley 

Maj. W. H. Corbusier, U. S. A. 

Gen. Horatio C. King 

Gen. Ferdinand P. Earle 

Col. Abraham G. Mills 

Col. Ralph E. Prime 

Col. John C. Calhoun 

Col. Henry W. Sackett 

Rev Jesse L. Hurlbut, D.D. 

Rev. C. Morton Murray 

Stephen Mott Wright 

Edward Payson Cone 

Truman G. Avery 

Teunis D. Huntting 

George D. Bangs 

George C. Batcheller 

Herbert P. Bissell 

Reginald P. Bolton 

Louis H. Cornish 

Designer of Memorial: 



Richard T. Davies 
Franklin A. Ethridge 
Theodore Fitch 
William H. Flitner 
Edward Hagaman Hall 
Charles W. Haskins 
Richard C. Jackson 
William H Kelly 
Charles B Knox 
Charles R. Lamb 
William A. Marble 
Jas. do la Montanye 
William C. Muschenheim 
Vincent M. Munier, D.D.S. 
Charles L. Nichols 
Charles N. Palmer, M.D. 
H. B. Perkins 
Charles B. Provost 
Carroll C. Rawlings 
Albert J. Squiers 
Ira Bliss Stewart 
Albert Ulmann 
John R. Van Wormer 
William H. Wayne 
Henry B. Young 
Charles Rollinson Lamb 




THE LOTUS PRESS, N. Y. 



li 



